Posted on 10/15/2007 10:23:13 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
When the first F-35 Lightning II rolls out in 2008, communications between pilot and aircraft will enter a new era thanks in part to testing and analysis conducted at the Air Force Research Laboratory's Human Effectiveness Directorate.
The F-35 will be the first U.S. fighter aircraft with a speech recognition system able to "hear" a pilot's spoken commands to manage various aircraft subsystems, such as communications and navigation.
Researchers at the directorate's Warfighter Interface Division are collecting data and recommending improvements now to ensure optimal performance when the F-35's new speech recognition system undergoes future operational tests, said David Williamson, senior crew systems engineer with over 25 years experience with speech recognition technology.
Currently pilots must press buttons, flip switches or glance at instruments for status information. The new system not only simplifies a pilot's workload but increases safety and efficiency, since pilots can remain focused on flying the aircraft and scrutinizing the combat environment.
Using digital recordings from in-flight tests aboard the NF-16D Variable-stability In-flight Simulator Test Aircraft, or VISTA, researchers pinpoint problem phrases and recommend alternatives that are more easily recognized. They also tweak error parameters and adjust the system's sensitivity for peak speech-recognition performance with minimal errors.
To collect data, AFRL electronic engineer Rob Snyder built a custom single-board computer system that plugs into the VISTA instrument panel. Researchers transfer data from the aircraft to the lab's database using a common memory stick.
The speech recognition system is integrated with the aircraft's onboard computer to access data. Communication occurs through the pilot's oxygen mask microphone with command feedback provided on the pilot's helmet-mounted display.
SRI International developed the DynaSpeak® speech recognition software as a highly accurate system for noisy environments, specifically for embedded devices like personal digital assistants, in-car navigation systems and avionics systems, Mr. Williamson said. It is speaker-independent, meaning a pilot can use it without first "training" the system to his or her voice, which took up to an hour on previous experimental systems.
SRI International is working with integrating contractor Adacel Systems, Inc., to tailor the system for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter's airborne environment.
The AFRL team, including Mr. Williamson, Mr. Snyder and senior scientist Timothy Barry of General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, worked with six pilots at the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB, Calif., whose primary mission was flying VISTA test-bed sorties to collect speech recognition data.
During typical 90-minute VISTA flights, the system's digital recorder captured the pilot's ongoing dialog with the aircraft. Researchers then returned with the data to the lab where they studied it for troublesome phrases and the impact of environmental conditions, such as ambient cockpit noise or high acceleration forces, which can affect the quality of the acoustic characteristics.
Ambient cockpit noise degrades the quality of the spoken command entering the recognition system, which could cause the system to misinterpret or misunderstand the command. Acceleration forces, expressed in "g," had little impact up to about 6 g, Mr. Barry said.
If the system proves successful on the F-35, it could be applied to other platforms such as the F-22 Raptor, Mr. Barry said.
The system could be advanced enough in less than five years to enable a single ground-based controller to fly up to four unmanned aerial vehicles using voice commands supplemented with gestures or touch-panel commands, Mr. Williamson said.
But first, the Human Effectiveness team wants the F-35 system to be the best it can be, meaning an error rate of less than 2 percent to consider the baseline system optimized.
"We're going to work with the vendor to improve the baseline system for the F-35," Mr. Williamson said. "Collaboratively, we're going to make the system much better before it even gets to the initial operational test and evaluation phase."
The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter will be the first U.S. fighter aircraft with a speech recognition capability. The system, being developed by Air Force Research Laboratory engineers in collaboration with industry, is able to "hear" a pilot's spoken commands to manage various aircraft subsystems, such as communications and navigation. (U.S. Navy photo/Chief Petty Officer Eric A. Clement)
Now, I am thinking of the movie Firefox.
I guess we’ll have to say: Think in English, always in English...
Press 2 for English?
Cool stuff!
"Well, why don't we just crash here!"
"Yeah, just shut down all the systems now!"
"That's right, go ahead and burn!"
etc.
Or “S**t, let’s just nuke Moscow while we’re at it.”
Currently pilots must press buttons, flip switches or glance at instruments for status information. The new system not only simplifies a pilot’s workload but increases safety and efficiency, since pilots can remain focused on flying the aircraft and scrutinizing the combat environment.
-
especially when you’re in an emergency and your mind is about to blackout
As long as there is always a manual way to do it and you can turn it off.
Or the pilot just says the “s” word and the plane preforms an emergency jettison of all weapons and fuel tanks.
“...Roger, Roger. What’s my vector, Victor?”
I have a hard time with any speech recognized software I’ve tried. Being from the South, the accent does not translate well. Interesting possibilities though for jet fighters, sort of like someone mentioned about Clint Eastwood in “Firefox”.
HERE IS THE KEY SENTENCE IN THIS ARTICLE>....
“The system could be advanced enough in less than five years to enable a single ground-based controller to fly up to four unmanned aerial vehicles using voice commands supplemented with gestures or touch-panel commands, Mr. Williamson said.”
Ding ding ding. Swarming technology. My bet will be how many UAV’s can a single person control effectively. They will be the new bad asses in the air... er in a trailer... but still geeky bad asses.
LOL
Here's Peter "Maverick" Pullin.
The F-35 will be the first to get 100 kilowatt solid state lasers - that’s powerful enough to blow holes in Haji the terrorist:
“The directed energy master plan has helped Air Force officials identify at least six directed energy programs that might be accelerated to develop promising technologies sooner.
Among those are three laser-related programs. Although service officials declined to name specific programs, they did give examples of the kinds of capabilities they are most interested in. Officials express interest in laser-equipped F-35 Joint Strike Fighters; lasers aboard gunships; and “relay mirrors” to increase laser ranges.
One laser capability service officials are eyeing for acceleration is a 100-kilowatt solid-state laser on a combat aircraft, said Wojtowicz. Although no funding has yet gone into putting such a laser on a fighter, a “sample S&T roadmap” document estimates that the Air Force may have to make a procurement decision in 2016. Solid-state laser technology could be sufficiently mature by then to begin buying a laser-equipped F-35.
Funding for integrating the laser on the F-35 would have to be provided before that date if laser technology continues to mature as expected.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1652248/posts
“The F-35 will be the first U.S. fighter aircraft with a speech recognition system able to “hear” a pilot’s spoken commands to manage various aircraft subsystems, such as communications and navigation. “
So when the F-35 enters service in 2014 it will be the first US fighter with Voice Input.
Thats roughly 12 years after the Eurofigther was released with this technology.
Even my Ford Mondeo (that I will change for a newer one in December) has voice recognition.
Will the F35 have colour displays also ?
“I think voice recognition in “excitable” environments is totally ridiculous to even attempt, unless the computer can be made to fully comprehend irony:”
I worked on this project back in 1986! At that time it was for a generic “advanced tactical fighter” and we were doing the testing at the General Dynamics Fort Worth facilty.
You are correct about the “excitable” part.
One of the biggest problems was the pilots voice changing during high G maneuvers.
At the time we limited commands to communication and navigation radios, and the heads up display.
Of course things have advanced significantly since then, but I wans’t sure it was ever going to be ready for prime time.
ping
The man in the grey weapons suite.
Click on pic for past Navair pings.
Post or FReepmail me if you wish to be enlisted in or discharged from the Navair Pinglist.
This is a medium to low volume pinglist.
Omigod, they are running VISTA?? The F35 is doomed!
Oh wait, you say VISTA has nothing to do with Microsoft? Never mind............
I guess the Eurofighter will establish meaningful, constructive dialog with any aircraft attacking Europe.
Our system actually has to work in combat situations. The F-35 isn't just a big social program for the local aviation industries, it actually has to fight.</return sarcasm>
Lol - ok maybe the difference is that the Eurofighter is just miles ahead in technology so noone dares to fight against it - while the F-35 would be a provokation to any MIG 21 pilot.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.